Criminal Charges Grow In Drunken-driving Death

September 8, 1988|By KURT GREENBAUM, Staff Writer

A woman who pleaded guilty in mid-August to her part in the drunken-driving death of a 17-year-old boy now faces another criminal charge after failing to show up at the Palm Beach County Stockade to begin her one-year jail sentence.

On Aug. 12, Circuit Judge Harold Cohen gave Sally Woodland, 38, until Sept. 1 to turn herself in after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of driving under the influence in the death of Christopher Hunter.

Hunter was killed on Nov. 29, 1986, after a double-collision on Okeechobee Boulevard near Sansbury Way. First Woodland`s car struck Hunter`s head-on. As Hunter inspected the damage, a car driven by Karen Marold, a 26-year-old Loxahatchee woman, struck and killed the teen.

Marold was sentenced to six years in prison after a jury found her guilty of DUI manslaughter. She is free on bond while her case is appealed.

Woodland`s refusal to turn herself in has frustrated, but not surprised the victim`s family.

``We agreed to the plea bargain because we thought it would be good emotionally to have one of them in jail,`` said Hunter`s mother, Sandy Gallop. ``Unfortunately, it has had the opposite effect.``

Woodland`s sentence in the plea bargain included five years on probation, with one year in jail. Prosecutor Krista Rothman said she charged Woodland with violating her probation by failing to appear at the jail.

``We`ve sent detectives to look for her. She`s not at her house in Wellington,`` Rothman said. Woodland could now face as much as 2 1/2 years in prison, Rothman said.

Woodland`s attorney, Richard Lubin, said he has had no contact with Woodland since the Sept. 1 deadline.

``She did plead guilty knowing the terms of the plea,`` he said.

According to police reports, Woodland`s blood-alcohol level was 0.19 percent. Florida`s legal limit is 0.10 percent, but Rothman said she offered the plea bargain to Woodland because she thought the collision with Marold caused Hunter`s death.